Charging larry



CHARGING LARRY Filed July 14. 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VEN TOR. FPA NczsR GRIFFIN ELLIOTT fleasv-alv.

March 18, 1958 Filed July 14, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVENTORS. FRANCISRGEIFFIN ELLIOTT PELSTON March 18, 1958 F. R. GRIFFIN ET AL 2 CHARGINGLARRY Filed July 14, 1954 s Shee ts-Sheet s INVENTORS.

FJPQNCIS E GPIFFI/J, ELL. :0 7- 7- PEA-.5 TON United States Fatent fiCHARGING LARRY Francis R. 'Grifiin, Munhall, and Elliott Preston,Glenshaw, Pa., assignors to Koppers ilompany, Inc, a corporation ofDelaware Application July 14, 1954, Serial No. 443,318

2 Claims. (Cl. 214-18) The present invention relates to coal charginglarrys for coke ovens, and more particularly, to a method and appa--ratus for charging coal by larry car hoppers, into coke I .ovens.

In charging a coke oven it is desirable to maintain the bulk density ofthe charge as uniform as possible since anypart of the charge that has abulk density higher than that of therestof the charge will not be cokedas soon .as the rest of the charge and, when the oven is pushed, willappear as uncoked or green coke. Further, by controllingthe bulk densityof a coal charge so that it is uniform, it is possible to modify thecarbonization pressure limit in the oven, avoiding damaging pressures tothe oven.

Itis further desirable in charging coke oven to provide for a minimumescapage of gas and smoke while charging .as quicklyas possible in orderto save operating costs. Moreover; it is desirable that the oven befilled to a uniform distance from the oven roof in so doing in orderthat amaximum throughput of coal commensurate with the operating policybe obtained, thatthere be an increased yield of coal chemicals and thatthere be controlled crack ing of volatiles with the'elimination of roofcarbon.

The aforedescribed desired charging conditions are, to a large degree,dependent upon the contour of the coal as charged into the oven. This inturn is dependent upon the quantities of coal in the individual hoppersof a charging larry andparticularly upon the timing intervals and thesequence of the dropping of the hoppers.

Modern larry cars are equipped with adjustable devices which insure thatthe individual hoppers are always filled to the same level, and arefurther. equipped with devices which insure that the individual hopperswill be filled with-constant volumes of coal regardless of the variationin the fiow'characteristics and angle of repose of the coal. Thus, thevariability in charging due to variable volumes ofcoal in the individualhoppers has been eliminated. However, the sequence and the timing of thesubsequent dropping of the coal out of the other hoppers has been leftupto and dependent upon the human element, that is, where two or morecharging holes are to be charged, for smokeless charging, the custom hasbeen to drop first one end hopper, or two oppositely disposed endhoppers, andthen wait a few seconds or more before dropping the otherhopper or hoppers. In some plants as many as eight different men havebeen required to operate the charging larry on one battery of ovens.Since practical charging intervals for the hoppers are scheduled inseconds, it is manifestly impossible for several men individually tomaintain the same identical schedule in the subsequent dropping of theother hopper or hoppers, after the initial dropping of one or two endhoppers throughout their shifts, every few minutes, day and night, weekin and week out, without .wide. variations in these subsequent hopperschedules. Repeated observation by the present inventors of thecoke aspushed from the ovens substantiates this. Not only agreat dealyof .verypoorly coked coal pushed 2,827,182 Patented Mar. 18, 1958 from-ovensbecause of this reliance upon the human;element for the timing of thesubsequent flow of coal out .of the subsequent hoppers into thesubsequent charging holes, but the oven itself has suffered a great dealof damage for this reason. Further, this situation has resulted in smokycharging due to the dropping of a subsequenthopper of coaltoo soon afterthe dropping of the end hopper or hoppers'for the end charging holesclosest .tothe gas collecting main, and loss of production due .topoorly-filledovens, poorly controlled oven roof temperature, and a hostofother ills which have sprung from lack of uniformity -in,the coalcharging flow time amongstthe several oven chambers, and amongsttheseveral charging holes-of eachseparate chamber.

Thepresent invention avoids these aforementioneddifiicultie$,:providing--an accurate method and apparatus for timecontrolling the sequence and timing of the subsequent discharge fiowoicoal from the larry car hoppers for each ovenchamber in amannerheretofore unknown in the art which permits the better maintenance of auniform bulk density of the coal charged to each coke oven chamber, thusallowing 'for'a still more uniform coking and control of thecarbonization pressure limit, a minimum escapage of gasandsmoke, in aswift and efiicient manner so as to substantially save on operatingcosts, and with the ovens filled to a uniform distance from the ovenroof thus obtaining maximum throughput of coal commensurate with theoperating policy and an increased yield of coal chemicals, controlledcracking of volatiles, and the elimination of roof carbon.

Various other features of the present invention will become-obvious fromthe hereinafter disclosure.

More particularly, the present invention provides for automationindischarge of coal by gravity from larry car hoppers into a battery ofcoke ovens by means of its common gravity flow equipment comprising acoal charging larry for a coke even having a plurality of hoppersadapted for gravity flow ofco-al through the charging holes in each ovenchamber ofsaid coke oven, each hopper having a gate positioned in thedischarge outlet thereof adapted to prevent the gravity flow of coalfrom said hopperto a charging hole and a vertically movable bootassociated with said discharge outlet to serve as a discharge chutebetween said outlet and said charging hole, gate and boot operatinglinkage connected to each of said gates and boots of said hoppers;manually operable levers for actuating each of said gate and bootoperating linkages; a fluid pressure operated piston for each saidlever; a solenoid operated valve for the fluid pressure for the pistons;21 sequence timer means connected to the solenoids of all of the valvesfor the pistons of all of the operating levers for actuating them inpredetermined fixed time relation relative to each other; and a quickdisconnect connection between the levers and their pistons for manualoperation of the boots and gates in emergency.

It will be obvious to one skilled in theart that various changes can bemade in the arrangement, form, and construction of the apparatusdisclosed and in the steps of the method disclosed without departingfrom the scope or spirit of this invention.

Referring to thedrawings:

Figure l is a side elevation partly in section of a coke oven chambershowing the end view of a coal char ing larry-in itsdischargingposition;

Figure 2 is aside view of the coal charging larry disclosed in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side view of a manually operable control lever for a gateand boot, linked to a piston for the lever;

Figure 4 is a front view of the control lever disclosed in Figure 3;

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow diagram of the automatic time controlmeans-forthe-pistons usedto actuate-themat 7 r 3" fixed intervals foroperation of the levers, one of which is disclosed in Figures 3 and 4.

Referring to Figure 1 oi thedrawings, a coke oven 2 is disclosed havinga plurality of oven chambers 4 each oi which has in the top portionthereof a plurality'o'f charging holes 6. A larry car 3 ispositioned ontop-of the oven 2, the larry car having an undercarriage ltl ad'apted toride on the rails 12 of the oven as is Well known in the art. The larrycar carries a plurality of gravity flow hoppers 14, each having a gate16 and a boot 18 associated with the lower discharge portion thereof; Ascan be seen in Figure) of'the drawings, linkage mechanism 20 is con- 7 Fonly three charging holes in the oven chamber disclosed, a

it is to be understood that the number of hoppers can vary in accordancewith the number of charging holes that are present in the oven chamber.It is to be further understood that the mechanism aforedescribed is wellknown in the art and various modifications of the apparatus so fardescribed can be made for association with the auto matic control systemhereinafter disclosed.

Referring to Figures 3 'and 4 of the drawings', the control lever 22 isshown in detail, having a bifurcated por-. 'tion 24 through which thepiston 26 extends, the piston I A pin 32 extends being operated by thecylinder 28. through the bifurcated portion 24 of the lever 22,providing a quick disconnect between the lever and the piston.

. 7 'By removing pin 32 the lever 22 can be disconnected "from theautomatic control means hereinafter described,

for the purposesof manual operation. 7

.In Figure 5 of the drawings, a fiowdiagram is disclosed whereincylinders 28 and their respective pistons 26 are ope ra tedautomatically. It is to be understood that one'cylinder and pistonarrangement is'provided for each control lever. 22, which lever in turnis connected to a gate andboot of one of the hoppers 14 through anoperating linkage 20. A hydraulic tank 36 for furnishing a hydraulicfluid to the pistons is provided having a pump- 7 ingunit'34 connectedthereto through conduit 38. The conduit '38 is connected to a flowcontrol valve 40 and the flow control valve is connected throughconduits 42 to the check valves 44; Connected to the check valves 44 byconduits 48 arethe solenoid operated four way valves 46. These solenoidoperated fouriway valves 46 7 46; which-are operated in a preselectedmanner by timer A 47, th'e'time of the movements of the pistons 26relative to each other are controlled. The timed movements of pistons 26are'translated to control levers'22, causing the way valves along theconduits 54 which are connectedto the solenoid valves 46 by means ofbranch conduits 53. It is to be noted that a'conduit 56 is providedbetween the flow control valve and the conduit 54 serving as a drainwhen the flow control valve has been set in such a manner so as not tofeed fluid to the check valves 44 con-' nected thereto.Through'the'aforedescribed system it is possible to operate gates andboots of the hoppers 14 automatically in a definite timed relationtoeach other as distinguishedfrom the heretofore knownmanuali adjustmentswith variations in the time of their successive orsimultaneousoperations. v.

It is to be understood that various fixed time and sequence arrangementsof operation can be set up through the electric timer 47 connected tothe solenoid valve by a predetermined adjustment thereof. It is furtherto be understood that the electrical system if so desired can beconnected with 'the traction drive from the larry car so that when thelarry car is in movement the pump will be shut oif. The pump can belocated'within thelarry car so as not to interfere with the servicing,repairs or removal of any unit on the machine. 7 a e in a typicalsequence of operations, a hand operated push button which'can be markedGates Open is actuated, the gates 16 thus opening and the boots 18dropping on the pusher side hopper. Five seconds later the coke sidehopper gate can be opened and the boot dropped. Five seconds later thecenter hopper gate can be opened and the boot dropped. Whenthe coal hasbeen discharged from the hoppers into the-coking chamber another handoperated push button which can be marked Gates Closed i actuated and allthe gates, and boots are raised at the same time. If so desired, theboots can be raised individually from the larry car floor, and in oneadvantageous embodiment the boots associated with each of the hopperscan be operated manually and separately from the automatic operation ofthe hopper gates; 'When emergency requires it, the pins 32 arewithdrawn, and the gates are then operated by manual operation of thelevers 22 independently of the pistons 26. The invention claimed is:

1. Apparatus for automation in gravity discharge of :coal from larrycarv hoppers into a battery of coke ovens 1 by means of its'commonlyused gravity flow equipment, comprising: a coke oven battery coalcharging larr'y'car having a plurality of hoppers adapted'for'gravityflow of coal through the top charging holes in each oven chamber of saidbattery, each hopper having a discharge outlet with a gate therein topreventthe gravity how of coal from the hopper to a said top charginghole, and a vertically moveable boot associated with said dischargeoutlet to serve as a discharge chute between said outlet and movement ofthe gates and boots associatedwith these 3 levers 22 through linkages20in fixed timed relation.

.. In'operation, the larry car is moved along the rails 12 untilthehoppers '14 are positioned directly above the charging holes 6 of theoven chamber 4. An electric v push button positioned in the cabin of thelarry car is then actuated in order to operate the hydraulicpumping unit34. The pumping unit supplies pressure through the flow control valve 40and through the check valves 44 into thesolenoid operated four wayvalves46l 'JThese tour way valves control the direction of flow to thehydraulic cylinders 28 and are controlled by an electric timer- 47 whichis"set up to operate these. valves in a said charging hole, a separategate and boot operating linkage connected to eachof the gates and bootsof said hoppers; manually operable levers for actuating each of the"gate and boot operating linkages; a' fluid pressure operated piston foreach said lever; a solenoid operated valve for the fluid'pressure forthe pisto'nsja sequence timer means connected to the solenoids of allof'the valves for the pistons'of all of the operating levers foractuating them in predetermined fixed time relation relativeto. eachother; and a quick disconnect connection between the levers and theirpistons formanual operation of the boots and gates in emergency. e V

: 2. Apparatus for automation in gravity dischargeot coal from larry carhoppers into a battery of coke ovens by means of its commonly usedgravity flow equipment,

from thehopper to a-said charging hole, and a vertically moveable bootassociated with'said dischargej outlet to "serve asa discharge chutebetweensaid outlet and said charging hole, a separate gate and bootoperating linkage connected to each of the gates and boots of saidhoppers; levers for actuating each of the gate and boot operatinglinkages; a fluid pressure operated piston for each said lever; asolenoid operated valve for the fluid pressure for the pistons; asequence timer means connected to the solenoids of all of the valves forthe pistons of all of the References Cited in the file of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS McIntosh Aug. 4, 1930

